What Does it Mean to be “Level Headed”! (PART 1)

We tend to think of level headed people as those who are logical and clear thinking. But did you ever stop and think if your head is truly level or balanced and sitting perfectly aligned with your shoulders?

 

When one considers the weight of the head, compared to the cervical spine (neck), you would wonder if anyone has their head on straight! The average human head weighs 7 to 12 pounds!

Yes, it is as heavy as a bowling ball! If that isn’t strange enough, it sits on 2 ounces! The first cervical vertebra (the atlas) supports the weight of the skull with the help of very strong ligaments. Now, if the head is ever ‘whipped” as in an auto accident, or knocked or abruptly jarred for whatever reason, it stays in that “off centered” position.

 

You may be thinking “So what if my head isn’t on straight”! Well, here’s the rub –The brain, arguably our most important organ in our body, does NOT end in the skull! It ends about an inch below the skull, in the upper neck.

 

There are thousands of cases of head and neck injuries every year, but few as devastating as Christopher Reeves and Dale Earnhardt Sr. IN Mr. Reeves’s case, he was thrown off his horse, landed on his head, but broke his neck. In the tragic case of Dale Sr., it was the “snapping of his neck” that caused a ring fracture to the base of the skull. Besides illustrating the delicate relationship of the head and neck, these stories speak of the profound consequences of upper neck injuries.

 

Thank God most of us will not experience that level of trauma, but most of us will

experience “micro trauma” or minimal but significant displacement of the head and neck. When the head displaces ever so slightly, the rest of the body compensates for the “unleveled” head and contracts. So, if you look in the mirror and notice a tilted head or high shoulder, or low hip, know that it is most likely stemming from an unleveled head! Next month we will discuss the subtle and not so subtle consequences of living with a head that is not quite level.

 

For more information about Specific Upper Cervical Chiropractic, call Dr. Goodman in Myrtle Beach at 449-0333. www.goodmanchiropracticmb.com.